Going Home.

Chapter 20

We pull up at the southern end of the Ferry Terminal which is where the proposed rail line was supposed to start. There was not much there except for a heap of 40ft containers and an assortment of dumped cars and white goods.

There is a flimsy wire fence around a section which looks like the start of a building or it may have been a toilet block but it has been abandoned for so long that the local kids have trashed it.

Looking around Knuckles says "People still dump shit here even though the dump closed 10 years ago, though it was not really a dump, more of a dumping ground for when the council trucks came back from the islands with all the crap they had cleared."

We headed through the grounds and walked up to where the old platform was and had a look around. For a project that was abandoned a few years ago it looked like someone had recently started to tidy it up. The barricade fence was pushed to the side and Knuckle slipped through the hole and walked around the front side of the building.

"Well I can guarantee that it ain't squatters who have done this place up." he shouted as we all come around the corner to see two young fells, guns drawn but once they see us come around the corner they both begin to panic.

"Woo there fella's, no need to brandish those around like that." Knuckles says as he moved forward ever so slowly. I can tell that the the guys look not older then 18 and the smaller one of the two looks mighty scared. I know that they have seen Ariel & I but Blaze is still near the fence.

Knuckles puts his hands up in a surrender pose and talks to the boys "Look, fella's, I get that we surprised you. We aren't here to make trouble. See, it's just an old man and a couple of ladies. Were looking for some old parts. Girls are doing up one of those DIY projects and I knew that there were all the old fittings from when they built this place. Never knew anyone else was tidying it up."

Gosh he is so good with bull shitting on the spot. I would have given us away in ten seconds flat. I feel Ariel start to whimper as one of the guns is right near her face. I look past her to see that Blaze is getting pretty angry and he is looking around for a way that he can take out the two guys.

"We won't tell the cops that your squatting here, we will just go, don't need those handles as much if you guys are using them." I blurt out, hoping to help Knuckles with his story.

"We're not squatting, we are part of a group who are renovating this platform." the smaller one of the two says. He seems to start to feel more comfortable and starts to drop his gun as he speaks.

"Oh Ok, sorry, it wasn't mentioned in any of the Council meetings but you know that Mayor, she dose like to surprise this town." Knuckles continues. I think he has realized that Blaze has found a good vantage spot to take out the boys should he need to.

I move and it startles the taller boy, he points his gun at my face which I think is Blazes last straw as everything that happens next is kind of in a blur.

Blazes jumps on both the boys and they all fall to the ground. Knuckles launches into the brawl and ends up kicking away one of the guns while he holds down the smaller boy of the two. Blaze is still wrestling with the taller boy and then I hear a gun go off.

Everything freezes. I start to panic and look towards Blaze & the taller boy but they are both stunned and are looking towards me. I turn and I see that Ariel has picked up the dis guarded gun and has it pointed right at the boys head.

"Drop that gun or I will shot you in the head." she says. She has a look in her eyes that says 'Don't test me' as she pulls back on the cocking lever to put another cartridge in the chamber.

The boy continues to put up a fight, so Ariel lets off another round that hits the back section, near where they are. She is shaking and she points the gun at him again.

The boy throws the gun to the side and Blaze flips him onto his stomach while he pulls out some cable ties and wraps his wrists together. He chucks one to Knuckles who does the same as Blaze pulls his prisoner over to where Knuckles is and then goes over to Ariel.

He stands in frount of her and I realize that she is in shock he places his hand over the gun that she is holding and says "Ariel, honey, can you give me the gun please."

"He was going to shoot you." She says as she is still holding the weapon and staring at the boy.

"Its OK, I am Ok, you did well. Can I please have the gun?" he says it to her in a soft voice that makes me take note of how thick his accent can get when he is being nice.

"I was scared, he was going to shoot you." She keeps repeating. He edges closer to her and wraps his arm around her. She slumps into him and both Knuckles and I let out a breath. Ariel never lets anyone hug her but Ryker and I, maybe occasionally Xavier but never anyone else.

Blaze takes the gun and pops it into the waist band of his jeans and then he pulls her tighter into her and keeps rubbing her back. I can hear Ariel starting to sob and it takes Knuckles yelling at me so that I come back to reality.

"MIA! You need to ring Xavier and tell him to get his arse here right now." Knuckles yells at me to get my attention. I pull out my mobile and dial Xaviers number.

"Hey Mia, what's up? I'm kind of on the middle of something." Xavier says as he answers the phone.

"You need to get to the Ferry Terminal and go to where they built that platform for that train at the southern end. We are here and we ran into some trouble." I reply and I can hear him swearing as he yells at whoever is with him to get ready as they have a problem.

"Oh Xavier, bring the meat wagon, we have some extra passengers." I say as I hang up before he starts to curse me out.

Knuckles has started to ask the boys questions but the taller one seems to be keeping his mouth shut. The smaller one on the other hand has been singing like a bird. I go over to help Knuckles but I keep an eye on Blaze and Ariel as he has picked her up and is taking her to the car to sit down away from us.

"She missed my head by centimetres." Knuckles says. I can see the bullet hole in the door and realize how close she had gotten.